| CMCA
Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA)
Frequently Asked Questions
GENERAL
What is CMCA?
CMCA is a community organizing effort designed to change policies and practices of major community institutions in ways that reduce access to alcohol by teenagers, thereby reducing teen drinking and the health and social problems associated with underage drinking.
What is community organizing?
Community organizing is a means of achieving social change through collective action by changing the balance of power in a community. Organizing is a long-term approach in which the people affected by a problem identify issues and take action to achieve solutions. Rather than look at problems with an individual focus, community organizing builds capacity in communities to address problems collectively to improve the status of the entire community or group.
What is the suggested timeline for implementing CMCA?
A community organizing approach is best implemented for at least 4 or 5 years continuously to have the necessary time to achieve a series of policy changes and their implementation/enforcement.
Do you have a clear list of implementation standards for CMCA?
To implement a community organizing project based on CMCA:
- Hire a qualified community organizer
- Form a local strategy team
- Develop a specific organizing strategy
- Select specific alcohol policy and enforcement targets
- Mobilize citizens of the community to push for those targets
Please note that implementation steps and organizing processes will vary by community given local policies and politics, demographics and available resources.
COSTS
How much does CMCA cost?
The cost of the CMCA community organizing approach varies by community and circumstances. Approximate costs may include:
- Initial set-up of organizer with laptop computer, printer, supplies: $3,000/one time
- Monthly expenses, photocopying, food for strategy team meetings, cell phone(s), travel, mileage, etc.: $300-500/month
- Salary and benefits for community organizer: $40,000/year
Does the CMCA organizer need to be full-time?
We recommend that the organizer(s) for each community be full-time, but the goals are sometimes achieved with organizers working 60-80% time. The likelihood of hiring an experienced organizer may be higher for a full-time position. If an organizer is working less than full time, you may need to adjust expectations for the timeline and the breadth of the organizing effort.
RESOURCES/MATERIALS
What resources and materials do you have?
Resources available on this web site include: (1) published papers detailing the design and outcomes of CMCA, (2) short, clear summaries of alcohol policies, and (3) model alcohol ordinances. All CMCA materials and resources are freely available for download and use; all we ask is that you cite us as the source in any publications.
TRAINING
Is training for CMCA available?
To request training please visit the Youth Leadership Institute web site at:
www.yli.org
phone: 415-836-9160 ext. 246
email: training@yli.org
PROGRAM COMPONENTS
Did CMCA include a social norms component or a youth leadership component?
While CMCA did not include explicit, separate social norms or youth leadership components. Youth leadership can be very helpful, if the focus is on using youth leaders to advocate for the same strategically selected policy and enforcement targets. The goal of CMCA is to stop adults from illegally giving or selling alcohol to underage youth - so it is important that adults hold other adults accountable.
ADAPTATION/FIDELITY
Would CMCA work with other drugs, like XTC, Meth, etc.?
The CMCA organizing process is surely adaptable to work on prevention of other drug use. However, a research trial testing such adaptation has not yet been conducted.
Our funding agency requires documentation on how we will implement our program with fidelity. What can we do to ensure loyalty to CMCA given there is no formal curriculum?
The core of CMCA intervention fidelity is using an organizing (not coalition) approach, and strategically selected, particular targets for alcohol policy change and improved enforcement.
TARGET POPULATION
What is the target population of CMCA?
CMCA targets youth age 13-20. If targeting specific age groups, communities should change policies and enforcement practices that target sources of alcohol used by that age group.
Would the CMCA program work with other age groups?
The CMCA approach is also appropriate for reducing alcohol problems among adults age 21 and over. It is less appropriate for those age 12 and under, other than via its effects on older friends and siblings.
PROGRAM EVALUATION
Can we contract with you to provide program evaluation if our grant is funded?
We do not provide program evaluation services.
Please send your evaluation instruments.
Samples of a strategy team survey and alcohol purchase attempt data collection form are available on this web site. We do not recommend implementing school and merchant surveys; they are expensive and difficult to administer and are not at all necessary for implementation of CMCA. They were part of the original CMCA only as part of its research trial. We recommend that communities focus on whether they successfully mobilized citizens and whether policy and enforcement changes were achieved in the community.
How can we evaluate environmental strategies?
Measure whether your community successfully mobilized citizens using a strategy team survey, and whether you achieved policy and enforcement changes in the community. Possible ways to measure enforcement include:
- Collect police data to assess frequency of citations of alcohol outlets, underage alcohol purchase attempts, alcohol-related arrests of youth .
- Conduct your own alcohol purchase attempts to measure propensity of outlets to sell alcohol.
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